John Cena’s long-awaited heel turn?

…I reference the video because for the first time since the RAW after Wrestlemania 30, the house crowd broke out in a “John Cena Sucks!” Chant in cadence to his Entrance Music this past Monday Night RAW.

There’s that and then there’s the promo he’s currently doing with Rusev leading up to Wrestlemania 31. After losing to Rusev at Fastlane, Cena has Kayfabe been in the dog house. Stephanie McMahon put her foot down on RAW and told him in the middle of the ring the only way he’s going to Wrestlemania 31 is if he can convince Rusev to give him a rematch at The Show of Shows.

During the promo he did with Stephanie, things got a bit testy. John was at first adamant about his Plan B involving another event but Stephanie shot that down when she came out, reminding him of his recent transgressions against The Authority. In perhaps a bid to break up the awkward moment, Curtis Axel (son of WWE Hall of Famer Mr. Perfect) came down to the ring wearing an “Axelmania” T-Shirt.

Axel seemed to take a page out of former manager Paul Heyman’s playbook and reminded the audience he was never actually eliminated during the Royal Rumble. Axel was ambushed by Eric Rowan before he made it to the ring so…yeah. Anyway, after doing an impressive impression of Hulk Hogan’s iconic t-shirt rip (which got cheers from the crowd), he challenged John Cena to a match, which started right away. Cena, who was obviously not in a good mood quickly dispatched the younger superstar. Axel’s face turn is now complete.

As for Cena, who has been a face ever since his first WWE Title win has been the face of the WWE until a few years ago. Ever since dropping the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar at Summer Slam, it’s obvious WWE is intentionally keeping him away from the belt for the time being. The question of “If Cena vs. X at WM31 for the WWE title is out, who should we get as his opponent?” was answered with Rusev. As one Op-Ed said, this is great booking for Rusev.

Rusev has yet to be defeated by Pinfall or Submission since making his WWE debut. Cena beating him for the U.S. Championship would be awesome, but Rusev would totally be put over if he retained the title. The way I see it, there’s no way Cena walks away from Wrestlemania without turning heel for the first time since his WWE debut. If Steph coming out and prettymuch shoving him in that direction is any indication, it looks like Cena himself’s finally ready to do it.

Hopefully.

In somewhat related news, there’s some Total Divas speculation Brie Bella (real name Brianna Bryanson) may be trying to get pregnant. I’m planning to watch the upcoming episode myself to know for sure but it would certainly explain why Brie has been booked in less matches lately and AJ Lee suddenly returned on RAW. It may also be a key reason why her husband Daniel Bryan hasn’t neen officially booked in a match for Wrestlemaniua yet. You’d think WWE was preparing for him to take some time off or something.

Speaking of a Bella, for those who don’t know by now Nikki Bella is dating the recently divorced John Cena. I intentionally left this out until now but the OTHER reason for the Anti-Cena sentament among WWE fans is his out of ring indiscretions, his apparent blatant disrespect toward the younger superstars and the fact WWE swept it all under the rug. The upcoming Total Divas episode is likely to focus on the Bella Twins with Nikki and Cena’s relationship being the main subject. Cena apparently has no interest in getting married again but Nikki wants to get married and have kids so…yeah. Their relationship may be at an impasse. I bring that up now as some could argue that to be a catalyst to a potential Heel turn.